Sometimes dreams are just that, dreams
by BlackMagicalCat
Summary: The Clans have left their homes. Ravenpaw has been asked to come with but doesn't decide until later. Follow Ravenpaw as he follows his heart and StarClan.
1. Dreams

The young tom shivered as he watched his friends pad away in the freezing rain. He knew he would be safe but he couldn't help but feel horrible for telling Firepaw of the danger in the Clan.

_Keep them safe StarClan_ he thought as he padded away from his only home. Ravenpaw sighed and headed toward where Barley, the loner, lived.

"Ravenpaw," a tom's voice called him, "Ravenpaw. Wake up." Ravenpaw opened his eyes to find a black-and-white cat standing over him. Smells of mouse and hay reached the cat's nose as he shook his head.

"What is it Barley?" he asked, peering around. It appeared to be only dawn.

"You were dreaming again," the older tom meowed, sitting calmly on the wooden floors of the two-leg barn where they lived. Ravenpaw yawned, thinking. Yes, he had been dreaming.

"Oh," was all that the cat said as he joined Barley on the floor, leaving his cozy nest in the hay behind. He had grown sleek and well muscled since his kitten hood, his fur a bit thicker, the white smudge on his chest and white tipped tail always betraying his presence in darkness. Barley studied the young cat that had come to live with him moons ago. He liked Ravenpaw but the young cat's dreams frightened him somewhat.

"C'mon," Barley said, nudging Ravenpaw in the shoulder with his nose, "The two-legs will be here soon. We have to hunt now before they scare all the prey away." Ravenpaw nodded and followed the cat out of the barn and into the woods. Two-legs had been coming and doing whatever to WindClan's territory. Ravenpaw hoped the Clans were alright.

Suddenly spotting a thrush, Ravenpaw dropped to his belly. Birds were the only reason he hunted outside. The barn held plenty of food but Barley liked that Ravenpaw could catch birds. He held back a smirk as he crept forward, eyes staring at the bird. He dashed forward, claws extended and leaped, killing the bird with a quick bite. Flicking his tail proudly, Ravenpaw padded back to the barn where Barley sat with a squirrel at his paws. His eyes lit up at the sight of the thrush.

"Here," Ravenpaw said, dropping the bird, "I'm not so hungry anymore." The sight of Barley with the squirrel and hunting outside had brought back of the memory of his dream and the familiar ache of wanting to visit his old home. He love being here with Barley but…it wasn't the Clan.

"What's the matter?" Barley asked, peering at the younger tom. Ravenpaw merely shook

his head, tail drooping now.

"I don't want to talk," he said, slinking into the barn. Ravenpaw leaped to the door where a horse stayed occasionally and sat there, staring at the wall.


	2. StarClan Calls

**AN: **I hope everyone liked the first chapter. Review! I like reviews, good or bad. I hope you guys figured this out but this all takes place during the second series. This is still before the Clans leave

**Disclamer:** As much as I wish and hope I do not own Warriors or Ravenpaw. They belong to Erin Hunter.

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"Ravenpaw, you will get the opportunity that you have dreamed about very soon," the blue-gray she-cat meowed.

"Bluestar?" the tom meowed, peering at the cat before him. Bluestar flicked her tail.

"Go with them Ravenpaw," she urged, "Follow them."

"Follow who?" Ravenpaw meowed back but Bluestar's image faded. He woke to find himself in the barn, Barley sleeping nearby and the sounds of a two-leg outside. He licked his paw and ran it over his ear, trying to make sense of the dream. Why was StarClan sending him dreams? About Bluestar? He wasn't a member of ThunderClan anymore so why? Shaking his head, Ravenpaw left the barn, hoping some fresh air would clear his mind.

He sat on a rock, the moss on it stil damp as he faced towards WindClan territory. Maybe he should go and visit ThunderClan. He shook his head. No, he couldn't do that. There seemed to be nothing he could do but wait.

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**AN:** Sorry it's so short. Wasn't sure what else to write.


	3. Them

**Disclamer:** I do not own Warriors, etc etc, yada yada yada.

**A/N: **Sorry it took me so long to get it up. I tried to stick as close as possible to the book in this chapter without plagerizing. So, R&R!

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Sunlight turned to a misty rain, waking the black tom. He yawned and stretched to find Barley next to him in the barn. Barley woke a moment later and the two of them slipped out of the barn for want of exercise and a bit of fresh air despite the rain. They stretched their legs in a fair game of tag before scents of Clan drifted towards them.

"Is that...?" Barley meowed. Ravenpaw's whiskers twitched as he padded through a hedge. He stared at the Clans, confused. What were they all doing there? It smelled like all four Clans were there. Barley padded behind him as he ears twitched.

"Firestar! Is that you?" he meowed, peering through the rain to search for the ginger tom. He heard Tallstar meow a greeting but became distracted when Firestar spoke, pushing through the cats.

"Ravenpaw!" the cat touched noses with the other.

"Where's Greystripe?" Ravenpaw knew the two of them stuck to each other like a burr in a thick coat of fur.

"He's not here," Firestar said, blinking. Ravenpaw bristled, shocked. Dead? He voiced this thought but thankfully Firestar shredded that.

"No, Twolegs captured him," the muddy ginger tom meowed, "That's why we're leaving." Ravenpaw only half listened as Firestar told him what the Twolegs were doing. The Clans leaving the forest? No more ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan or WindClan? No more greeting apprentices, leaders and medicine cats as they headed to Moonstone? No more Firestar? He twitched his tail.

"Where are you going then?" he finally managed to ask.

"To Highstones then..." Firestar glanced at a cat Ravenpaw recognized as Brambleclaw.

"Stay with us tonight," Ravenpaw pleaded.

"Not in the barn though," Barley meowed, "The Twolegs would have a fit."

"The old Twoleg nest then?"

Firestar nodded, "Sounds good to me." Ravenpaw and Barley led the Clans to the shelter. The black tom listened as some of the WindClan cats remembered how they rested here. He and Barley helped the warriors hunt before settling down with Firestar to eat and share tounges.

Night passed swiftly, but Ravenpaw slept very little. He was thinking about the dream he had had. Bluestar told him to follow them. Was 'them' the Clans? Was he supposed to go with them all? The sun rose and Ravenpaw listened quietly as the leaders and Brambleclaw argued what to do.

"I'll come with you to Highstones," he said after they had decided to keep going. Firestar pressed his muzzle against the tom's and they left.

"Who's deputy of ThunderClan now?" Ravenpaw asked after some time.

"Graystripe," Firestar said, blinking at his friend.

"But...he's gone."

"Don't ask me to give up on Greystripe too!" Firestar spat, "Isn't it enough I've given up my home?" Ravenpaw stared at him but said nothing as they trudged on. The Clans and loner reach Highstone by nightfall and Ravenpaw spent the night with them. He woke before the sun rose and slunk away to find something to give to Firestar before he left. A rabbit quickly fell prey to him and he returned, dropping the prey at Firestar's paws.

"A gift," he mewed when Firestar looked up at him questionly.

"I wish you would come with us," Firestar meowed, standing to touch noses with the black tom, "It's hard enough leaving Graystripe behind without leaving another friend." Time froze for Ravenpaw. Maybe he /shoud/ go. This was his chance.

He shook his head, not yet, "This is my home now. I can't leave it or Barley. I'll never forget you." With that, he touched noses once more and bounded down the slope tears in his eyes.


	4. Asking Barley

**Disclamer**: I do not own Warriors. tear

**A/N:** Review my friends! All critique welcome. I may start a second story also...

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Ravenpaw had not returned to Barley like he should have. No, he stayed near Highstones but far enough away so that the Clans wouldn't scent him. This was it, he could return to Barley or follow the Clans, trail after them where ever they were going. Shaking his head, the black tom decided he should return to Barley...for now.

The trip took another day but he reached his home by nightfall. He slipped into the barn, paws aching with weariness, and curled in the straw and slept. Barley curled next to him a few moments later and Ravenpaw simply purred at the touch of his friend. Could he really live this cozy life and return to ThunderClan?

"Barley," Ravenpaw said, prodding his friend with a paw the next day, "Barley." The black and white tom stirred.

"Barley, I need to talk to you," Ravenpaw meowed, his eyes worried.

"Mph," the older tom meowed, "What?"

"I think I should follow ThunderClan," Ravenpaw said, the words rushing together. Barley sat up, his eyes wide.

"What?"

"I think I should go with the Clans," Ravenpaw repeated.

Barley blinked slowly, mulling over what to say.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking at Ravenpaw.

The black tom nodded, "Yes, I think so."

Barley yawned and touched noses with Ravenpaw, "If you want to catch up with them you should go now." Ravenpaw blinked, surprised as to how easily the elder tom accepted the fact he was thinking of leaving.

"But..but...won't you come with me?"

Barley purred softly, laughing, "No, Ravenpaw. I am getting old. I will come with you for a few days before returning here. I have lived here for so long I can't imagine leaving. I am a loner, not a warrior." Ravenpaw nodded, understanding.

"Let's hunt then leave by sunhigh, alright?" Barley meowed, stretching. The two cats left the barn and had one last hunt together at home.


	5. The journey begins

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long to this chapter up. I've been busy. Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner.

**Disclamer:** I do not own Warriors, yadda yadda, they belong to Erin Hunter.

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Ravenpaw licked his muzzle, the faint scent of pigeon still clinging to his fur. He and Barley were leaving in a bit and his belly was tight with nervousness. The tom wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing now, as much as he wanted to.

"Ready?" the older black and white tom meowed from his place beside Ravenpaw. Ravenpaw took a breath and nodded. Barley touched Ravenpaw's muzzle with his own, sort of understanding his friend's unsureness. They set off, leaving their home behind. The dogs were tied up when they reached that particular nest and Ravenpaw relaxed a bit. They continued, their ears ever pricked for the sound of rats or two-legs.

The first smells of the Thunderpath reached them before the sound of it did and Ravenpaw glanced at Barley before slipping under the hedge. He nodded slightly and crouched by the edge, his eyes narrowed against the smell and wind that the monsters cause. A lull in movement from the monsters occured and he dashed across, his pelt bristled in fright.

The scent of ShadowClan drifted towards him but he remembered they were not there and his pelt soon smoothed down flat. Ravenpaw watched as Barley crouched also, watching the monsters carefully. He held his breath as the tom dashed across and leaped to avoid a fast moving monster.

"Barley! Are you okay?" he cried, dashing over to where Barley was shaking hisself.

"Yea, yea," Barley meowed, "I'll be fine. Let's keep moving." Ravenpaw nodded, glad his friend was okay and they left ShadowClan's old land and welcomed the closeness of the tall grass that sooned swallowed them. They traveled through the grass for a bit, sniffing occassionally for a rogue cat or some other predator. It was when Ravenpaw thought he smelled something that something heavy and gray knocked him off his paws.

He rolled, clawing at the thing, he couldn't tell if it was a cat or not, before shaking it off. He hissed and saw that Barley had been tackled also, if by a smaller creature.

"Ravenpaw?" the animal in front of him meowed, its pelt no longer bristled. Ravenpaw let the growl in his throat die as he blinked, staring at the creature, which he realized was a cat.

"Graystripe?" Ravenpaw meowed back. The cat nodded and Ravenpaw looked again. It /was/ Graystripe. He had certainly lost weight, and he smelled more like two-legs and kittypets than a ThunderClan warrior but Ravenpaw detected the faint scent there.

"Lily, get off of him," Graystripe padded over to the cat that had tackled Barley, pulling the cat off.

"Sorry about that," Graystripe meowed, helping Barley to his paws, "I thought you were ShadowClan. What are you doing out here anyways?" Ravenpaw glanced at Barley who was shaking his pelt of dust.

"I'm following the Clans," He finally meowed, "They've left their homes Graystripe. All of them. To find a new place." Graystripe stared at him, looked at Barley who nodded, and sat down, his tail curling around hisself.

"I-I didn't think they would leave me," the gray tom meowed, his voice thin.

"They were forced Graystripe," Barley said, obviously recovered from the attack, "You know about ShadowClan and WindClan. ThunderClan was losing its territory too. They had no choice but to leave." He paused for a moment, before he remembered, "Firestar refused to name a deputy though. He won't stop believing you're going to return." At this, Graystripe pricked his ears, a bit of pride in his eyes.

"Graystripe, is that the Firestar that is your best friend?" the cat name Lily spoke now. Ravenpaw looked at her. She was small, looked to be a kittypet. She had long white fur, but her back, sides and tail were browns and blacks.

"Yes, the very same one," Graystripe meowed, "Oh, Lily this is Ravenpaw and Barley, two friends of the Clans." Ravenpaw dipped his head and Barley flicked his tail.

"The sun is beginning to sink," Barley said, glancing at the sky, "Let us continue to Highstones and we will rest there and listen to your story Graystripe. I'll leave in the morning." The group nodded, although Lily more or less flattened her ears but she followed along as Barley snaked his way through the grass.

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**A/N:** So, what do you think of Lily joining the crew? And Graystripe returning? Let me know!


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